The Govt. of Tamil Nadu has claimed that 582 fishermen have gone ‘missing’ after Cyclone Ockhi hit the Kanniyakumari coast last week.

Top revenue official Sathyagopal addressed newsmen at the State Disaster Management Centre at Ezhilagam, Chennai when he revealed this. Talking about the disaster, he said “In storm-hit Kanniyakumari District, power supply has been restored fully in the city but it is yet to be restored in rural areas because of disruption in road traffic and areas lying along the forests.

“Action is being initiated to restore power supply at once.  It was initially estimated that 500 trees might have been uprooted but the survey conducted later revealed damage to more number of trees. As many as 20,000 trees have been damaged or uprooted; 12 corpses from under the trees have been recovered.  5032 houses have also been damaged while 12,000 fallen electric poles have to be re-erected.

“4500 acres of agricultural fields including rubber, banana, paddy, coconut and black pepper have been badly affected. A total of 582 fishermen - 35 who left for fishing in 13 small boats and 547 who left for deep-sea fishing in 66 huge boats – have not returned yet. Indian Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard personnel have been in search of the missing fishermen almost round the clock,” the official informed.